There was a time when much of the world was thickly forested, but thanks
to the demands of the human race this is no longer the case. It was to counter
such devastation on a global scale that the Programme for the Endorsement of
Forest Certification (PEFC) was founded in 1999. Realising the impracticality of an
all-embracing international standard, PEFC instead opted for the approach of
endorsing national standards that meet the political,
economic, social, environmental
and cultural realities of individual
countries, while at the same time ensuring compliance with internationally
accepted requirements and global recognition.

Today PEFC is the world’s
largest forest certification system, with two-thirds of all certified forest
being certified to PEFC endorsed standards.

Indonesia became the third
Asian country to receive endorsement after Malaysia and China, when the
Indonesian Forestry Certification Cooperation (IFCC) standard was endorsed by
the PEFC Council in October 2014.

AJA Europe was the first Certification Body to achieve accreditation for
the IFCC Sustainable Forest Management Standard.